The Pain of Bones and Joints

Modern people live stressful lives. Young and old alike have chances of suffering from bone pain. Bone pain is not the exclusive domain of the elderly.

Bone pain can be caused by many pathological factors, including colds, gout (high uric acid), rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, and idiopathic bone pain of unknown cause. Common causes of bone pain include bone misalignment, bone inflammation, bone degeneration, muscle weakness, and calcium loss.

In fact, most bone and joint pains can be prevented. We just need to pay more attention to the details of our daily lives. For example, improper sitting postures easily leads to muscle strain, and can likely cause joint misalignment leading to bone pain.

In addition, pay attention to your body weight. Excess weight puts too much stress on the bones and joints throughout the body, easily leading to degeneration. Improper diet also easily results in insufficient nutrients supplied to the body and bones, especially calcium absorption. Too much meat and too little vegetables also easily lead to body acidification from uric acid, causing calcium loss. Lastly, lack of exercise or excessive exercise can also easily lead to bone pain. Too little exercise can cause muscle weakness and difficulty retaining calcium in the bones, while too much exercise leads to muscle strain and bone degeneration. So everything should be in moderation – too much or too little deviates from nourishing life.

Chinese medicine focuses on balance. It uses acupuncture, orthopedic manipulation, nutritional supplementation, qigong exercises and other natural, non-invasive techniques to restore patients to health. A recipe for bone-strengthening broth is Pork Feet and Eucommia Soup, which strongly supplements yin and nourishes the bones. Ingredients include 30g antler gelatin, 15g eucommia bark, 15g prepared rehmannia root, 1 jin of pork feet, 1 corn cob, and 2 slices of ginger. Put all ingredients into a pot with adequate water and simmer for 2 hours, then add some noodles and it can be consumed.